THE MYSTICAL QUEST IN FREEMASONRY

By the
general agreement of Masonic students today the history of Speculative
Freemasonry is considered to commence with the formation of the London Grand
Lodge on the 24th June, 1717, but as an introduction to the subject of
my Paper this evening, I wish to emphasize that although this data is
accepted because it marks the beginning of an organized plan for the
development of what is now the English Masonic Constitution, it must not be
overlooked that the transition of the Craft from Operative to Speculative
was a gradual process taking place both before and after the inauguration of
the Grand Lodge. At the beginning of the eighteenth century Masonic Lodges
in England, Scotland and Ireland were composed of Operatives as well as
Speculative, and notwithstanding the fact that by this time the greater
number were undoubtedly Speculative Freemasons, the operative element was by
no means eliminated. This was the period when the Craft of Masonry was
transformed, and the final result was the emergence in the year 1723 of
Speculative Freemasonry proclaiming itself a system of morality presented in the form of Ritual, and veiling its instruction
by recourse to allegory and symbolism. The precise circumstances under which
the transformation took place have not yet been revealed, but we do know
that the real Founders of the Speculative Rite remained in obscurity and
occupied themselves with only the general execution of the design of the
system which they had inspired. Hence it is that the structure of the Ritual
and the Instruction Lectures as we have them today was the responsibility of the executive of the London Grand Lodge, who worked in
accordance with principles outlined to them by the master minds who directed
without actually participating in the verbal composition. A close study of
the historical setting prior to the emergence of the Speculative Order will
disclose to the student that the orginal Founders saw with clear vision and
foresight that the Operative Craft Guilds had outlived their sphere of
usefulness as a trade organization, but that at the same time they were
capable of placing a ready-made machinery complete with an elementary
symbolism on which to graft matters of a highly esoteric and mystical
nature. It was with this end in view that they arranged for non-operatives
to be admitted into the Trade Guild, and then they gradually derived blended
with the symbolism derived from the operative art of Masonry a
higher-symbolism which served to veil an arcane science and philosophy.

I have deemed it advisable to draw your attention to these facts in a
Paper of this nature, in order to illustrate that Emblematic Freemasonry
incorporates doctrine and symbolism divided into two distinct classes:-

(1)..ETHICAL AND MORAL - derived from the Operative Craft and the
technical equipment of a workman in material stone.

(2)..MYSTICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL - transmitted from less public
organizations of mystics and occultists, and having no relation to the
practical building trade.

The wisdom of the incorporated system lies in the recognition that both
classes of symbolism and instruction have one characteristic in common; they
both refer to MAN, his nature, his destiny, and the course he must follow in
order to fulfill that nature and attain his true destiny. Freemasonry
therefore acknowledges, as the writer, Pope, expressed it in his celebrated
Essays that, "the proper study of mankind is Man", and we find this same
principle set forth in the Third Degree, in the instruction to the candidate
to "guide his reflections to that most interesting of all human studies, the
knowledge of himself". All thinking men will freely admit that some form of
self-knowledge is a necessary preliminary to self-mastery, and it is also

abundantly proved that he who would be a Master among men, must indeed
know himself and know of the powers which reside within himself, further he
must know the truth concerning his relationship with his fellow men and all
nature. The system we know as Craft Freemasonry was especially designed to
teach self-knowledge, but this involves a knowledge much deeper, vaster, and
more difficult than is popularly conceived, and therefore before the
individual Freemason is in the position to reduce its implications into
personal experience, he must have the ability to understand the meaning of
all that has been communicated to him "veiled in allegory and illustrated by
symbols".

As a contribution to the interpretation of Masonic doctrine I will now
proceed with the subject of this Paper, and I first of all wish you to note
carefully one thing that emerges clearly in the MASTER MASON DEGREE; this is
an Emblematic Quest for the recovery of what are cryptically described as
"the genuine secrets". In the title of my Paper I have termed this Quest
mystical, because great significance is attached to a full comprehension of
what is intended by the cryptic Ritual phrase, "To seek for that which is
lost".

I must now ask you to concentrate your attention-for a few moments on the
Ceremonies of Opening and Closing the Lodge in the Third Degree. You will
recall in that in the case of the Ceremony of Opening the Lodge the whole
intent is fixed upon the loss of "genuine secrets" and the method of their
recovery, and it is shown in the Ritual catechism that so great is the zeal
of those who are presumed to be engaged in the search for them, that they
have covered the symbolical distance between cosmic East and West in order
to participate. Now, by way of contrast, we find that in the Ceremony of
Closing the Lodge the symbolical journey is reversed, being now from West to
East, it is declared that the "genuine secrets have not been found. Further,
certain "substituted secrets" having been regularly communicated, it is
decreed that the fulfillment of the quest must be delayed "until time or
circumstances shall restore the genuine ones". From this is quite cloar that
the intention is to show that in the Master Mason Degree the measures of
possibility have been spanned, and that henceforth the fulfillment or
recovery rests with Providence, watching within the veil of futurity.

In what light do we Freemasons regard the contents of these two brief
Ceremonies of Opening and Closing the Lodge? It may surprise some of you who
have listened in Lodge on many occasions to the recitation of the Ritual
catechism, to learn that it is a modern version of what is known in
mysticism as the "Quest-formula" and thus is the reflection of a highly
mystical doctrine. Its correspondence in mysticism is in fact the age-old
theosophical doctrine concerning the Eternal East of our ante-natal life,
which is forfeited by the descent of the soul into generation as on a
journey to the West, or into manifested being and the "grave" of the flesh.
The way of resurrection from the grave is proclaimed to be that of return
whence we came.

The Quest-formula in exceedingly old in folk-lore, and the presence of
the doctrine incorporated in the ritual of the Third Degree throws a flood
of light upon that which is presented heavily "veiled in allegory" in the
Ceremony of Raising; it also provides the key to that obscure passage in the
Ritual when the attention of the candidate is directed to a "retrospect of
those Degrees in Freemasonry through which he has already passed".

Let us reflect a little upon these things, and express them in language
with which as Freemasons we are all familiar. We have been taught that our
"admission into Freemasonry" was "an emblematical representation of the
entrance of all men upon this their mortal existence". What bearing has this
on the problem of self-knowledge? Surely we may quickly grasp that it is an
emphatic answer to that deep persistent questioning which presents itself to
every thinking mind, WHENCE COME I? The answer is luminous in Ritual terms;
each of us, we are told, has come from that mystical "East" the eternal
source of all light and life, and our life here is described as being spent
in the "West", that is in a world which is the antipodes of our original
home. Hence every Candidate upon admission is placed, in a state of
darkness, in the West of the Lodge. Thereby he is repeating symbolically the
incident of his actual birth into this world,

which he entered as a blind and helpless babe, and through which in his
early years, not knowing whither he was going, after many stumbling and
irregular steps, after many tribulations and adversities incident to human
life, he may at length ascend, chastened by experience, to larger life in
the Eternal East. The Instruction Lectures also illustrate this in order to
amplify the Ceremony of Admission, and thus in the First Section of the
First Lecture the question is asked, "As a Freemason whence come you?"; the
answer coming from an Apprentice (i.e. from the natural man of undeveloped
knowledge) is "From the West", since he supposes that his life has
originated in this world. But, in the

Master Mason Degree, First Section of the Third Lecture, the question is
put, "As a M.M. whence came you?", and the answer is that he came "From the
East", for by this time the Freemason is deemed to have so enlarged his
knowledge, as to realise that the primal source of life is not in this
world; that existence on this planet is but a transitory journey, spent in
search of the "genuine secrets", the ultimate realities of life, and that he
must return from this temporary world of "substituted secrets" to that
"East" from which he originally came.

I trust that it is now possible for you to glean that, in its highest
understanding, the doctrine of Freemasonry tells us that the soul of man
comes forth from an eternal centre, and that the soul in fine goes back, or
to that "point within circle" from which the Master Mason "cannot err". It
is in this sense that as Master Masons, we are intended to realize that the
pageant of the Third Degree, is our own story told in another manner of
language, and shadowed forth in other types. We are also pursuing the search
for that "which is lost", and we have been raised in the shadow, that we may
be brought thereafter into a great light, at once a Morning Star and Orient
which visits us from on high. This is indeed the message of the Sublime
Degree, and it is again truly recorded in the Introduction to the Third
Lecture that, "To a perfect knowledge of this Degree few attain, but it is
an infallible truth that he who gains by merit those marks of preeminence
and distinction which this Degree affords receives a reward which amply
compensates for all his attention and assiduity"; thus we are reminded that
these few are those who lift their eyes to the Morning Star. Whose rising
brings peace and salvation, and a great inward light to all who sit in
darkness and in the shadow of death.

It now remains for me to show, that the key to the whole purpose of the
Masonic system is contained in the Central Legend and the Traditional
History of the Third Degree; and that it is this key which is missing in the
majority of cases when Brethren have sought to elucidate the mystery.

To many members of our Order the story of the building of the Temple at
Jerusalem appears to be the history of an actual structure of stone and
mortar erected by a famous Hebrew King, assisted in the work by another King
who supplied the men and materials, and by a Principal Architect who
supplied the pre-ordained plans to the Craftsmen. But we must be very
careful before we come to any such conclusions regarding this Temple, and we
must also bear in mind that the Masonic legend informs us that during the
course of the work of erection a conspiracy arose among the workmen,
resulting in the murder of the "Principal Architect" and preventing the
completion of the building, which therefore remains unfinished to this day.
I will ask you to note that this legend cannot refer to any historical
building erected in

the old metropolis of Palestine, for if we refer to the V. of the S.L.,
as an authority for the Temple at Jerusalem, we find it recorded that the
Temple was completed. Moreover, the account given in the V. of the S.L.,
makes no reference whatever to the conspiracy among the workmen, but on the
contrary it is expressly stated in the Second Book of Chronicles, Chapter 4,
verse 11, "And Hiram finished the work that he was to make for King Solomon
for the House of God", and we are further informed that the Temple was
finished and completed in every particular.

The Masonic legend further instructs us that by the death of the
Principal Architect "the genuine secrets of a Master Mason were lost". Now
it is obvious that the principles of architecture, the genuine secrets of
the building trade, are not, and never have been lost; they are thoroughly
well known, and it in absurd to suppose that Masons of any kind are waiting
for time or circumstances to restore any lost knowledge as to the manner in
which temporal buildings ought to be constructed. Clearly our duty is to
pierce the veil of allegory contained in the Legend, and by so doing, grasp
the significance of its true purport. That which "is lost" in to be found,
we are told, "With the Centre", but if we enquire in the language of the
Ritual, "What is a Centre?", we are confronted with the enigmatic answer
that it is, "A point within a circle from which every part of the
circumference is equidistant". But what circle? and what circumference? for
we can obtain no clue to this in the construction of ordinary buildings. If
we ask also "Why with the Centre" we are again faced with the perplexing
answer, "Because that is a point from which a Master Mason cannot err". The
truth is that these questions and answers are typical examples of an
intentional puzzle language which is used to stimulate investigation into
the deeper things which lie behind the literal words. The method is one that
is common to all systems of initiations, and the clue to its adoption in our
system will be found by a reference to the Lecture on the Tracing Board of
the First Degree, where it is affirmed that, "philosophers, unwilling to
expose their mysteries to vulgar eyes, concealed their tenets and principles
of polity and philosophy under hieroglyphically figures". The Traditional
History of the Third Degree constitutes such a

hieroglyphically figure.

From what I have already disclosed in this Paper, it follows that the
Legend of the Third Degree deals with something quite distinct from the
construction of a material edifice, and I need only add that the Temple of
Speculative Freemasonry is that Holy Temple of which all material edifices
are but the types and symbols. It is that Temple of the collective body of
humanity referred to by St. Paul in the First Book of Corinthians, Chapter
3. verse 16, in the words, "Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God; and
that the spirit of God dwelled in you?", and of which he also declared,
"According to the grace of God which is given unto me, I have laid the
foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he
buildeth thereupon" (1st Corinthians, Chapter 3, verse 10). A perfect
humanity was the great Temple, which in the counsels of the Most High, was
intended to be reared in the mystical Holy City (the "City of Eternal
peace"), of which the local Jerusalem was the type. The three Master
Builders, King Solomon and the two Hirams, are a triad corresponding to the
Trinities to be found in all the great world religions; it is hardly
necessary to remark that the builders of this Temple of the Most High were
not three human personages, and we should realize that their names are a
personification of the Divine Creative Energy considered in its three
constituent principles, which are symbolized in our Ritual as "Pillars of
His work", namely:- Wisdom, Strength and Beauty. Those of you who are versed
in metaphysics will recognize that these three metaphysical principles form
the basis of all created things, and may be defined for our purpose of study
in more modern terms:-

(1)..WISDOM. - Life essence, otherwise the "breathe of life".

(2)..STRENGTH. - Primordial substance or that which translated from the
Hebrew in the V. of the S.L., as "dust of the ground" into which the Lord
(life) God breathed the "breath of life". It is therefore a mould or vehicle
of the Life-essence and is termed in our modern nomenclature "the soul",
which gives form or objectiveness.

(NOTE: the actual passage in the V. of the S.L., concerning this is in
GENESIS, Chapter 2, verse 7, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living soul".)

(3)..BEAUTY, - The intellectual principle which is built into the soul,
and which energizes and binds the life-essence and the substance together,
and constitutes the whole an intelligent instrument.

It was of these three principles, or in the words of our Ritual, "of
these Divine attributes", that the human soul was originally and divinely
built, and thus the Temple of the

collective soul of humanity was made, or built, of the three constituent
principles of Deity in due balance and proportion, "perfect in all its
parts" (see Genesis, Chapter 1, verse 27, "So God created man in his own
image"), and the work was divinely pronounced to be "very good" (Genesis,
Chapter 1, verse 31, "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold,
it was very good". The material of the mystical Temple at Jerusalem was
therefore the souls of men, who were at once the living stones, the fellow
craftsmen and collaborators with the divine purpose. But in the course of
the construction of

this ideal Temple, something happened that wrecked the scheme and delayed
the fulfilment indefinitely. If you will consult the Book of Genesis in the
V. of the S.L. you will find the same subject related i the allegory of Adam
and Eve, They were intended, as you are aware, for perfection and happiness,
but the project of the Creator became nullified by their disobedience to
certain conditions which were imposed upon them. You will observe that their
offence was precisely the same as that committed by our Masonic
conspirators. They had been forbidden to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, or,
in Masonic language, they were under obligation "not to attempt to extort
the secrets of a superior degree" to which they had not attained. In our
Masonic system the "ruffians" are represented as demanding the secrets of
the Master", or, the secrets of his exalted degree", and they attempt to
extort them by violence. The meaning of this becomes clear once it is
understood that the translation of the Hebrew word HIRAM is "teacher of
supreme knowledge", or more correctly it is the equivalent of the Sanscrit
word CURU, meaning literally "teacher of the divine wisdom". The
Fellowcrafts are therefore represented as endeavouring to obtain that
knowledge which Hiram said was "known to but three in the world," or in
other words knowledge that was known only in the counsels of the Divine
Trinity, and the attempt resulted, as you know from our legend, in the
"death of the Master". This tragedy, however, is not intended to be the
record of any vulgar, brutal murder of any individual man; it is a parable
of a universal loss, and an allegorical expression of that which resulted in
consequence of a defect in the collective or group soul of the human race.
In this parable we are dealing with a moral disaster to universal humanity,
for those significant words "Hiram is slain" refer to the fact that owing to
all that is signified by the "Fall of Man", the faculty of enlightened
wisdom has been out off from humanity. It in this sense that the Temple of
human nature still remains unfinished, and it will do so until we recover
the "plans and designs"

which were formerly "regularly supplied" by the T.G.A.O.T.U. In our own
day we have good reason to know that despite all efforts and endeavors we
are still unable to regulate the disorders of individual and national life,
and this indicates to us that some heavy calamity has befallen us a race.

It is also true that in our best moments we all long for that light and
wisdom which have become lost to us, and like the Craftsmen in search of the
body we go our different ways in search of what is lost. We seek it in
pleasure, in work, and in varied occupations and diversions; we seek it in
intellectual pursuits, and in Freemasonry, and those who search farthest and
deepest are those who become most conscious of the loss, and who are
compelled to cry M...... or M......! "the Master is smitten". Thus the
search goes on, and in the Divine Providence we find that there still
remains to us "the glimmering ray" in the "East", for in our "darkness" we
still have our "five points of fellowship", our five senses and our rational
faculties to work with, and these provide

us with the "substituted secrets" that must distinguish us before we
regain the genuine ones. In this manner, "veiled in allegory"' Freemasonry
teaches us the great truth that it is Humanity itself that is the living
Temple whose building in those far off days

became obstructed, and therefore to all of us who have "eyes to see and
ears to hear", it conveys the emphatic message that we are both the
Craftsmen and the building materials of that edifice which was intended to
be an unparalleled structure", but which although in foundation, "well and
truly laid" has so far failed in the effort

to raise a superstructure perfect in all its parts and honorable to the
Builder". But let us not forget that while Freemasonry emphasizes the "utter
confusion" arising from the universal loss of the original "plans and
designs", its real purpose is to bear witness to the fact which has been
taught in all subsequent ages, namely that with proper instruction and by
our own patience and industry, we can regain "that which is lost". Remember,
we are taugth that in "due time we shall be entitled to a participation in

the genuine secrets", providing that we are found worthy, and in our
Masonic system, to be "installed in the Chair of King Solomon" means, in its
true sense, the re-attainment of that Wisdom we have lost and the revival in
ourselves of the Divine Life-essence which is the basis of our being. This
brings us to the consideration of the most important matter. How can we
regain the genuine secrets? In order to answer this, we must obviously solve
the problem of the burial place of the Principal Architect. According to the
legend we are informed that the Wisdom of the Most High - personified by
King Solomon - ordered him to be interred, "in a grave from the c.../ 3 feet
between N and S, 3 feet between E and W, and 5 or more feet perpendicular".
Where, Brethren, do you imagine that grave to be? Probably you have never
thought of the matter as other than at ordinary burial place outside the
walls of a geographical Jerusalem, but

the real grave of Hiram is ourselves. Deep at the centre of ourselves
lies buried the "vital and immortal principle" that affiliates us to the
Divine Centre of all life, and this is never wholly extinguished however
imperfect our lives may be. The lost guiding light is buried at the centre
of ourselves, high as your hand may reach upwards or downwards from the
centre of your own body i.e. 3 feet between N and S, as far as your hand can
reach to the right or left from the middle of your person i.e. 3 feet
between E and W, and 5 feet or more perpendicular, the height of the human
body; these are the indications by which our cryptic Ritual describes the
tomb of H.... A... at the centre of ourselves.

Freemasonry then, is a system of philosophy inasmuch that it provides us
with a doctrine of the Universe and our place in it; indicates whence we are
come and whither we may return. Its first purpose is to show that man has
fallen away from a high estate to the externalized condition in which we now
live, but its great virtue lies in the fact that, to those who seek it
indicates the way by which the "centre" may be found within ourselves, and
the outline of this teaching is embodied in the discipline and ordeals
brought to the notice of the candidate in the three Degrees. The instruction
of these

degrees is "veiled allegory and illustrated by symbols" to emphasize that
all great symbols are shadowed forth in the person of man himself. Thus the
human organism is the true Lodge that must be opened and wherein the
mysteries are to be found; thus it is that our Lodge-rooms are so furnished
to typify the human organism. The lower and physical part of us earthy, and
rests, like Jacob's Ladder, upon the earth; whilst our higher portion is
spiritual and reaches to the heavens. These two portions are

in perpetual conflict, and he alone is a wise man who has learned to
effect a perfect balance between them and to establish himself in strength
so that his own inward house stands firm against all weakness and
temptation. The world at large is, as it were, but one great Lodge, of which
our Masonic Lodges are the little mirrors. Mother Earth is also the Mother
Lodge or us all. As its vast work goes on, souls are ever descending into it
and souls are being called out of it at the knocks of some great-unseen
Warden of life and death, who calls them from labor here and summons them
hence for refreshment. Hence it is that after the work in the Lodge, the
festive board; after the labor of this world, the repast and refreshment of
the heavenly places.

In submitting these thoughts to you I would once again stress the fact
that the real aim of Freemasonry is to provide us with a course of
self-knowledge and self-discipline, by means of which we may accelerate our
return to our real home, which in the V. of the S.L., is known as the
"Kingdom of Heaven". The candidate in the Entered Apprentice Degree is
informed that our system is one containing secrets, but he is also reminded
that those "secrets" are not "communicated indiscriminately". This is indeed
true, for they exist concealed beneath a great reservation, and are
disclosed only to those of us who are prepared to act upon the hint given in
the Instruction Lectures, "Seek and ye shall find; ask and ye shall receive;
knock and it shall be opened unto you". The search may be long and
difficult, but great things are not to be acquired without effort and it may
be affirmed that to the candidate who is "properly prepared" there are doors
leading from the Craft, that, when knocked, will assuredly open and admit
him to places and to knowledge of which he at present knows little.

And now, Brethren, this brings me to the conclusion of my Paper and our
study of the Mystical Quest in Freemasonry", and I trust that the small
contribution I have been privileged to place before you will prove to be
"glimmering ray in the restoration of that "Light" which we have declared is
the predominant wish of our hearts". It rests with each one of us whether
Masonry remains merely a series of symbolic rites, or whether we allow those
symbols to pass into our lives and become realities. Our Craft was given out
to the popular world from obscure and secret sources as a great experiment
and means of Grace. The knowledge concealed by the allegory and illustrated
by the symbols is only taught in certain carefully concealed sanctuaries,
and its presentation in Craft Lodges is intended to lead those capable of
discerning its true purpose, into still deeper initiations.

Finally, Brethren, in accordance with the general design of our system,
the Worshipful Master of a Craft Lodge is the humble representative of King
Solomon, who himself is a symbol, and behind these and all the Grand
Officers, stands the Grand Master of all true Freemasons throughout the
Universe, "The Master of the Great White Lodge", to whom we all owe
allegiance, and to whose protection and enlightening guidance I commend
myself and you all.